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Who says NASA scientists and engineers don’t know how to have fun?!
Every year the fiendishly clever folks at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California hold their annual pumpkin carving contest where brilliant brains concoct all manner of strange and interesting artworks using a fresh supply of seasonal orange squash to deliver some truly fantastic fabrications.
The special judged event is meant to not only celebrate the Halloween holiday, but also the anniversary of the founding of the Jet Propulsion Lab, which was first opened on Oct. 31, 1936 by researchers at the California Institute of Technology.
What do you get when mechanical engineers accustomed to building one-of-a-kind spacecraft turn that focus to pumpkins? JPL’s annual pumpkin carving contest!,” the lab wrote on its Instagram account.
Witness the crazy creativity of these unique pumpkins in the gallery below, featuring an eerie floating pumpkin teapot pouring liquid into a pumpkin cup, a cute baby hippo pumpkin named “Boo Deng,” dedicated engineers concentrating on wiring some sophisticated circuit board component, a giant cheeseburger and fries entry crafted from ripe pumpkins, and even Tweety Bird in a silver-gilded pumpkin cage.
An entry at JPL’s annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024.
An entry at JPL’s annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024.
An entry at JPL’s annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024.
An entry at JPL’s annual pumpkin carving contest for Halloween 2024.
Each participant or team is given only one hour to saw, drill, carve, slice, dice, paint, scoop, and scrape their pumpkins into characters, dioramas, and spacecraft on the JPL patio using their orange-hued vegetables as a starting point. Mechanical and electronics add-ons are allowed to be put together ahead of time.
This is a fun activity we look forward to seeing each year as it offers a chance for JPL’s finest to let their imaginations loose.
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Once completed, the incredible pumpkin creations are put on display for scientists, engineers, and technicians to admire the ingenuity and inspiration put into each entry. No final winners were posted at this time but we’ll update readers once they’re announced.
Any favorite pumpkins in the posted images?
